Gunpowder

From the late 17th century gunpowder came into use in Cornish mines.

Where the Cornish used goose quills , in Anglesey the Parys and Mona miners used corn stubble collected after the harvest..

Comment left by Polo on 2011-06-05 22:12:31

Coal mining is very skillful, particularly where the seams mined are trending at 50° to the horizontal or where the seams are heavily faulted.
Although the value of the final processed product is significantly different, the values of the coal and metal ores underground in the rock are of a similar amount.
A comparison of mine records in the 19th Century does not indicate any major difference in numbers employed at the different mines. A large coal mine has a similar sized underground work force as a large metal mine. In the 20th Century workforces in coal mines were much greater than metal mines as their production dwarfed that of metal mines.

Comment left by Shirley from Belgium on 2012-05-24 08:00:00

What a fantastic website, I've learned so much. Hope the kids like my presentation today on the 'Origins of the Cornish Pasty', I have you to thank for the greatest and most interesting part: the miners and their working conditions.